Staff at Wellington School have been devastated by the tragic death of relatives of a colleague in the air crash at Churchinford last weekend.

Four members of the family of Charlotte Garrett, whose husband Will is Housemaster of Overside, the school’s junior boarding house, were killed in the crash. Her father Philip Garvey (56), mother Ann (55), her sister Emily (23) and brother Daniel (20) died when their light aircraft came down in heavy rain and high winds off Buttles Lane, Churchinford on Saturday morning as it was approaching Dunkerswell Aerodrome.

The family were on their way from Fairoaks Airport in Surrey to Cardiff to visit their daughter Laura, her husband Ben and 2 year old granddaughter Katie. They planned to stop at Dunkerswell on their way to collect Charlotte before flying on to South Wales.

Will Garrett, a former pupil of Wellington School, is a member of the History Department and coaches rugby.

The school’s Headmaster, Henry Price, said: “We are all extremely shocked and saddened that such a devastating blow should strike a young family in our school community. I speak on behalf of everyone when I say that Mr and Mrs Garrett have our deepest sympathy and we will do all we can to support them in the days and weeks ahead.” He added, “The school would also like to extend its sympathy to everyone who has been affected by this hugely sad event.”

This is the second air tragedy to have affected staff at the school this year. Head of Chemistry Chris Jones (61) died in a parachute accident as he was sky-diving at Dunkerswell Aerodrome in August.